the best cuisine at sea

We’ve just returned from a gorgeous trip to Greece and Turkey with Oceania Cruises — one of our preferred partners for small-ship luxury cruise travel. Oceania touts their culinary program as being “the best cuisine at sea,” and after experiencing it for ourselves — we can’t argue that point.

Now, don’t get it twisted—we’ve got other cruise lines that we love that have very, very good food. Even exceptional cuisine. But Oceania is on a whole different level. We now understand why our Oceania clients who are also foodies won’t sail on any other line.

On many cruise lines, there are supplemental charges for dining in “specialty” restaurants, but not on Oceania. We were on one of their larger ships, which included restaurants such as Jacques Pepin’s restaurant, Jacques, an Asian restaurant called Red Ginger, a steakhouse known as Polo Grill, and Toscana, an Italian restaurant. Each of these specialty restaurants had something unique to offer — things that we hadn’t even experienced in restaurants on dry land. At Red Ginger, for example, we were presented with a menu of chopsticks — organized in terms of the level of ease of use. At Toscana, we were offered a choice of olive oils and balsamic vinegars for the bread service. Did we want a spicier olive oil or a thicker, sweeter balsamic?

The main dining room was gorgeous and the cuisine was equally outstanding. And at the pool-side grill, Oceania offered a Wagyu burger with black truffle and roasted tomatoes which might be the best burger I’ve ever eaten in my entire life. (And no upcharge for the Wagyu burger, by the way — included in the fare).

But the commitment to the finest cuisine at sea isn’t limited to the offerings in the on-board restaurants. Oceania curates special culinary excursions on each itinerary — would you like to visit a local market with the chef while in port? Take a cooking class to learn about the region’s cuisine? Visit a working farm in your destination? That’s all possible when you’re sailing with Oceania, and it’s not something we’ve seen on other cruise lines.

There’s also a culinary center on board, where the food and beverage staff offers cooking courses and demonstrations. Would you like a wine or champagne tasting? That’s offered on Oceania. And don’t miss out on high tea in one of the lounges — every day at 4 p.m.

Oceania really tries to highlight the cuisine of the destination on board the ship. On our itinerary sailing through the Greek Isles, there was one evening where you could have a veritable feast of Greek food — roast lamb, souvlaki, moussaka, and some regional dishes that I’d never heard of before — all of them were delicious. It’s all part of Oceania’s commitment to providing an authentic experience with the destination — even while on-board the ship.

Celebrating a special occasion with friends and family on board? Well, the hidden gem of their culinary program is Privée, a private dining experience that can host up to 12 guests. The service was exceptional, and the food is exquisite. There’s a supplemental charge to have access to that exclusive private dining experience, but it’s not much, at all. If you’re celebrating a milestone birthday or anniversary with friends and family, let us help set that up for you.

This was our first sailing with Oceania, and while everything was top-notch, across the board, it’s hard for us to stop talking about how incredible the food was. We can’t wait to return onboard an Oceania voyage, and we’d love to share it with you as well. Let us know if we can get you more information!